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Published: March 22nd 2017
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After returning to the ship after our polar swim we headed away from Deception Island for Elephant Point in the Lower Shetland Islands. Unfortunately we hit high winds so were unable to do our last landing there. They took a zodiac out to test the waters and see how the landing site looked but it was really bad out there. Then the captain took us to the other side into the bay to see if we could land at another location but it was equally bad. So we headed to the Drake. I was fine on the Drake coming down except for lack of sleep with all the rolling but on the way back it kicked my butt. I made it to the lecture about the race to the south pole but then got really dizzy and headed down to my bunk to take a nap. It continued to rock back and forth pretty severely into the evening so most of my day was in bed. I went out on deck at one point to see a Wandering Albatross and tried to sit through our evening debrief but just felt awful. Not nauseous but like you feel in an earthquake that
doesn't end for days. Around dinner time a HUGE wave hit us and literally covered the windows on the 5th level of the ship. I was in my bunk on the third level and my window was completely covered in wave. There was lots of crashing as items were flung around cabinets. At some point during the night it got so bad that my mattress literally slid off the bed. It was a good two feet from the wall but stopped when it hit our dresser. I tried putting it back where it belonged and stuffed a foam wedge to try to secure it but there it went again. I finally just curled up on the part that was still on the bed and went back to sleep. It was much worse than it was coming down here and the staff said last night was the worst of the whole season. Let me tell you it was an experience!
This morning around 7am our lovely Sara who is in charge of the G team came on the speaker to let us know we were passing Cape Horn. The Drake had calmed so I went up on deck to see
it. It was still a little dark but you could see it and a couple lighthouses flickering along side the mountain. Pretty cool to see it in person! It really didn't take away the sadness of not seeing adorable penguins swimming along the ship or knowing we have no more landings until Ushuaia though. I was not ready to leave the White Continent and all the fantastic beauty it holds. Today we have lots of lectures. We had one on microorganisms this morning followed by Shackleton. This afternoon there are a few more as we sat anchored in the Beagle Channel waiting for a pilot to lead us in. As we were anchored at the mouth of the Beagle we saw a Sei whale which is the third largest and on the endangered species list. We were told it's rare to see them but there must've been a food source bringing them into the area.
As I reflect on Antarctica I think of the thunder as the glaciers crack and move. It echos across the land and sounds bigger than life. And I was surprised at all the life and color we came upon. The algae bloom only happens
at this time of year so it was a different experience than most find down here. And the size of the icebergs surprised me. The sheer mass and age of them is staggering. The whales, seals, and penguins were fantastic. I was lucky to be pecked and am so excited that a few people caught it on camera so will share that experience once I have better WiFi. I did get a picture of my face popping out of the water from the plunge and let me just say it is an expression of misery! I blame our bird guy Diego for encouraging the full head under water plunge. :-)
The people I've met are very interesting too. We have over 41 countries represented on the ship which is amazing. So many who have just completed all the continents on this trip. It makes me want to go book Australia and Asia right away! With a few exceptions everyone got along fantastically. We range from a 17 year old to I believe 83. This has been a very unique experience and I feel so blessed to be down here.
I'm going to attempt to get a few pictures
up once I get to Buenos Aires!
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Kari
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WOW
Just catching up on your amazing adventures! I am completely BLOWN away!!! Hats off to you for being so open to such a unique bucket list experience!